I re-discovered some of the work of Aleister Crowley and find it really interesting, more than years ago. Crowley intendet to establish a new religion – Thelema – where the individual’s free will and choices are valued. Each person is like a star and follows the own path. Restricting morality should be shrugged off. Each person should think for himself, reason for himself, and follow his own path. Since no two paths are the same, we have no way to instruct our brother or sister other than to encourage them to accept their own freedom, and with it, their own responsibilities for their life. „Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.“
Sounds good! However I think that a real individual does not need any kind of religion. It is enough to know who you are and what you want and then focuse straight on it.
Magick
In the broadest sense, Magick is any act designed to cause intentional change. This term is often spelled with a terminal „k“ to differentiate it from other practices, such as „stage magic“. Magick is not capable of producing „miracles“ or violating the physical laws of the universe (i.e. it cannot cause a solar eclipse), although „it is theoretically possible to cause in any object any change of which that object is capable by nature“ (Book 4). Aleister Crowley saw magick as the essential method for a person to reach true understanding of the self and to act according to one’s True Will. Crowley describes this process:
One must find out for oneself, and make sure beyond doubt, „who“ one is, „what“ one is, „why“ one is…Being thus conscious of the proper course to pursue, the next thing is to understand the conditions necessary to following it out. After that, one must eliminate from oneself every element alien or hostile to success, and develop those parts of oneself which are specially needed to control the aforesaid conditions. (Book 4)
Crowley also provides us with some fundamental statements about the nature of magick (from Book 4):
- „Magick is the Science and Art of causing Change to occur in conformity with Will“
- „Every intentional (Willed) act is a Magical act.“
- „Magick is the Science of understanding oneself and one’s conditions. It is the Art of applying that understanding in action.“
For Crowley, the practice of magick—although it equally applies to mundane things, like balancing the checkbook—is essentially to be used for attaining the Knowledge and Conversation of one’s Holy Guardian Angel. Since achieving this state with one’s ‚Silent Self‘ can be extremely arduous, magick can be used not only to reach that particular goal, but to clear the way for it as well. For example, if one needed a particular dwelling to perform the operation, one could use magick to obtain a suitable home. Crowley stated that magick that did not have one of these goals as its aim was ‚Black Magick‘ and should be avoided.
